[Turderboozle]

Originally Posted by guyver626

What is the extended warranty you have? Is it the bmw extended warranty? If so, good to know it covers the lights

CPO definitely doesn't cover it I was quoted $800 to have the inner and outer left assemblies replaced last week.


considering that's just silly to pay that much since A) they're only ~$460 for the set from getbmwparts.com and 2) it looks fairly easy to solder following that guide posted earlier in the thread

I decided to follow the soldering guide today and it totally worked! Just had to be sure to get the circuit board super hot and use some flux and then everything flowed nice. It turns out it was the black square one that is close to the white plug. It worked for my outer LEDs so I am going to try on the inner one tomorrow.

EDIT: this is for a '12 X3 xdrive 35i w/xenons

[Radioactive]

Scratching my head on "heating the circuit board". I build a lot of my audio components and have never heard of this. Heat and circuit boards are not friends.

Repaired the inner led couple of weeks ago. Found which resistor was the problem by hooking up the tail light assembly and pushing on each component to find the open circuit. Used a plastic soldering tool to hold the smd resistor in place while hitting the ends long enough to re-melt present solder. No flux or additional solder. Holding the iron on the solder pad too long can damage board and/or resistor.

Edit- I stand somewhat corrected on heating board. Try to avoid SMD if I can. There is technique of heating the whole pcb for "mass" soldering of SMD components. I would be careful using this to resolder just a small number. You risk disturbing other components or over heating the board if not done correctly.

[Tussy]

Turderboozle I'm glad it worked for you. Mine are all still workin 100%!

Bye

[nyalpine90]

too much heat can fry components and mess up circuit board itself.

[greg2step]

i wish i could get mine to hold. tried twice first time last about 18 hours, second time about 18 days....

[motosport3]

My inside brake lamp on the left side has stopped working as well. I'm wondering if there is a step by step with pictures write up for that one. Are the problem areas of the circuit board the same for the outer and inner lights?

[Tussy]

All the 4 circuit boards inner and outer are the same. You have to resolde all the solder joints on each board. You have to put the circuit board on an hot plate with temperature control before soldering the joints. When the board is hot you can proceed with soldering. I'm not an electrotechnical, but my friend did it so! i hope this is enough, i've no photo of the work...sorry..bye

[motosport3]

Thanks for the info. For the inner brake light I will have to muck around a bit more as just reading the description doesn't give me the visual on where the control board is.

Given this is such a common occurrence wondering if this is something BMW should address as a defect.

[greg2step]

mine worked briefly today - as the friend who soldered it said, cold weather may make it work. annoying.

[Radioactive]

Originally Posted by motosport3

Thanks for the info. For the inner brake light I will have to muck around a bit more as just reading the description doesn't give me the visual on where the control board is.

Given this is such a common occurrence wondering if this is something BMW should address as a defect.

The board is located on the trunk lid inner light assembly. Quite easy to see once the light assembly is removed. See page 1, post #17 of this thread.

[Radioactive]

Here is a repair PDF from bimmerfest.

Again heating the whole PCB is really for manufacturing using solder paste. The heat must be high enough to melt the solder, otherwise you are wasting your time. Heating the whole board to the proper temp will melt the ALL the solder on every component. Therefore you risk moving them, which could cause another open circuit. If you overheat you can damage the PCB.

[Tussy]

if you don't heat the circuit board, you can not solder anything. It is impossible to solder it because the metal alloy is different. after few days the circuit board stops to work... the soldering must be done by an electrotechnical that knows how to do it. it is not difficult. All my 4 Led lights
were broken, and now after many months they are working perfectly. Bye

[ddykstra]

In the original picture, those two lights at the bottom in the bumper...when are they supposed to come on? Or are they just reflectors?

Thanks.

[Radioactive]

Originally Posted by ddykstra

In the original picture, those two lights at the bottom in the bumper...when are they supposed to come on? Or are they just reflectors?

Thanks.

Reflectors....probably had flash on when the picture was taken.

[ddykstra]

Originally Posted by Radioactive

Reflectors....probably had flash on when the picture was taken.

Thanks.

I think 3/4 of mine are broken. I have a 2011, the xDrive35i model, with Xenon. Its a Canadian model so I don't know if that changes anything but my understanding is that I should have 4 tail lights that come on, 2 fender and 2 tailgate. Only the left fender one comes on.

[smovva]

Got tired of re-soldering the chip on the LED tail light of my 2011 X3 F25 3.5i; board gets so hot I think solder is reflowing during normal use!

I delved deeper into what the Valeo board actually is and turns out its just a run of the mill constant current LED driver, except with the added bonus that its poorly engineered and not found anywhere else!!

The board has to handle input voltage of 11-16V and output is 500ma and 4.5V. No mystery at all and you can buy an equivalent for $6! I used the LDD-H Series Mean Well Step-Down Mode CC DC-DC LED Driver LDD-500HW available at www.ledsupply.com and used some scotchlock connectors to tap into existing wiring harness, so I don't have to cut any wires.

Parts: $6 + Shipping
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers...step-down-mode
When you order, select the drop down box for wires and current as 500ma.

Wiring:
RED wire on LDD-500HW taps into Red on the connector going to the Valeo board
Black Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Black from connector going to the Valeo board
Yellow Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Pink from connector going to the Valeo board
Blue Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Gray from connector going to the Valeo board
White Wire on LDD-500HW cut/tape it off; no need for it. Its used for dimming.

Gotchas:
1. Only tricky thing was stuffing the module & wires in so I can put the taillight back into place! Where I put the module initially in the picture didn't work; so I put it at an angle where the Valeo board used to be

2. Scotchlock connector are tricky and if you use them, make sure they are biting into the wires (wires on meanwell are thicker than the valeo board connector).

3. Make sure you DO NOT use both the Valeo board and the meanwell part at the same time!

Super easy fix and works great! Enjoy!

Satish

[smovva]

p.s: here is the data sheet for the part. You want the module with wires and 500MA (LDD-HW500 looks like middle picture in attached data sheet first page) if you are using my method.

You can use the PIN version if you are going to cut off the connector to the valeo board and directly solder the 4 wires to the new module in place of the valeo board. if you go this route, you can probably place the module exactly where the valeo board was and glue module to a piece of plastic (or aluminum) and slide it into the holder where the valeo board used to be.

Originally Posted by smovva

Got tired of re-soldering the chip on the LED tail light of my 2011 X3 F25 3.5i; board gets so hot I think solder is reflowing during normal use!

I delved deeper into what the Valeo board actually is and turns out its just a run of the mill constant current LED driver, except with the added bonus that its poorly engineered and not found anywhere else!!

The board has to handle input voltage of 11-16V and output is 500ma and 4.5V. No mystery at all and you can buy an equivalent for $6! I used the LDD-H Series Mean Well Step-Down Mode CC DC-DC LED Driver LDD-500HW available at www.ledsupply.com and used some scotchlock connectors to tap into existing wiring harness, so I don't have to cut any wires.

Parts: $6 + Shipping
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers...step-down-mode
When you order, select the drop down box for wires and current as 500ma.

Wiring:
RED wire on LDD-500HW taps into Red on the connector going to the Valeo board
Black Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Black from connector going to the Valeo board
Yellow Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Pink from connector going to the Valeo board
Blue Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Gray from connector going to the Valeo board
White Wire on LDD-500HW cut/tape it off; no need for it. Its used for dimming.

Gotchas:
1. Only tricky thing was stuffing the module & wires in so I can put the taillight back into place! Where I put the module initially in the picture didn't work; so I put it at an angle where the Valeo board used to be

2. Scotchlock connector are tricky and if you use them, make sure they are biting into the wires (wires on meanwell are thicker than the valeo board connector).

3. Make sure you DO NOT use both the Valeo board and the meanwell part at the same time!

Super easy fix and works great! Enjoy!

Satish

[momoboy]

That is awesome! I was hoping someone would find a suitable replacement board. Thanks for posting!

[smoothmoka]

Great job smovva!!! Thanks for posting!

[96_Impreza]

See Post #76 on Page 4 at:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...=822229&page=4

[c3uo]

I wanted to thank Smovva and LEDSupply! Quick shipping (to Canada), and everything connected up easily.

I made some (perhaps not recommended) simplifications. I found I could just slightly trim the ends of the LED Driver wires and stick them directly into the harness I removed from the OEM Valeo board. This saved cutting and soldering wires. I was concerned about the wires coming loose (although it was a very tight fit), so I melted them in hot glue to prevent them from coming loose or grounding out. I then wrapped it in electrical tape.

Once complete I put a dab of hot glue on the dimmer wire that I trimmed short (to prevent it grounding on the frame), and then hot glued the Meanwell board in the light housing as shown in the attached pictures. Everything seems to be held in place pretty well, but I will double check in a week or so.

Thanks! Great repair for $6 plus shipping.

[smovva]

Here is a little guide I put together to use a different mean Well LDD-500L module that requires no wire cutting or soldering. The module is also a little cheaper than the first one (LDD-500HW) I recommended. Enjoy!

Originally Posted by smovva

Got tired of re-soldering the chip on the LED tail light of my 2011 X3 F25 3.5i; board gets so hot I think solder is reflowing during normal use!

I delved deeper into what the Valeo board actually is and turns out its just a run of the mill constant current LED driver, except with the added bonus that its poorly engineered and not found anywhere else!!

The board has to handle input voltage of 11-16V and output is 500ma and 4.5V. No mystery at all and you can buy an equivalent for $6! I used the LDD-H Series Mean Well Step-Down Mode CC DC-DC LED Driver LDD-500HW available at www.ledsupply.com and used some scotchlock connectors to tap into existing wiring harness, so I don't have to cut any wires.

Parts: $6 + Shipping
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers...step-down-mode
When you order, select the drop down box for wires and current as 500ma.

Wiring:
RED wire on LDD-500HW taps into Red on the connector going to the Valeo board
Black Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Black from connector going to the Valeo board
Yellow Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Pink from connector going to the Valeo board
Blue Wire on LDD-500HW taps into Gray from connector going to the Valeo board
White Wire on LDD-500HW cut/tape it off; no need for it. Its used for dimming.

Gotchas:
1. Only tricky thing was stuffing the module & wires in so I can put the taillight back into place! Where I put the module initially in the picture didn't work; so I put it at an angle where the Valeo board used to be

2. Scotchlock connector are tricky and if you use them, make sure they are biting into the wires (wires on meanwell are thicker than the valeo board connector).

3. Make sure you DO NOT use both the Valeo board and the meanwell part at the same time!

Super easy fix and works great! Enjoy!

Satish